Gaydon with Chadshunt Parish Magazine August 2007

This Month's Diary

Parish Council

Villagers should telephone the Parish Clerk, Corinne Hill, on 641220, if they need any information about local government services . See the inside back cover of this magazine for other useful contacts.

Pilates

Tuesday evenings 8.00pm
There are spaces available in the Pilates Class which is held in the Village Hall on Tuesday evenings. We have broken up for the summer but are starting up again in September.
Pilates is an exercise system that is particularly good for your back. Our instructor Debbie Birch is fully trained and qualified. It costs £35.00 for five sessions.
We are a mixed group and anyone is welcome, you can be any age, male or female. There is no age limit - we have people from fourteen to seventy-five years old in our group. There are even people from Other Villages!
If you are interested please call Madeleine on 640636

Mobile Library

The van will be visiting the village on Thursdays 9th and 23rd this month.

Friendship Club

Our August meeting has not yet been arranged owing to the floods. Members will be contacted when the venue has been decided.

Village Hall News

The Village Hall Committee has made the Hall available as an emergency centre in the current flood crisis. At present, sandbags are available from the garage behind the Hall. Flood team meetings will be held every Monday evening in the Hall. Ditches and watercourses belonging to the Hall have been inspected and will be cleared.

Gaydon Flood Plan

1. new drain pipe under Banbury Road
2. new drain pipe and ditch from Church Road
3. clear and maintain all water courses

Gaydon Floods: Seven days - Emergency officer's report

Friday 20 July - noon: Gaydon inundated by a flash flood. The weather forecasts for several days had warned of flooding and three inches of rain was predicted. Despite the warnings and the experience of a flood only a month before, few householders had taken any precautions and the village as a whole was unprepared. Twenty houses were flooded, some of them ruinously.
Saturday 21 July: Mostly spent clearing out houses, but with lots of discussion about causes and a very clear feeling that this problem should not be allowed to occur again.
Gaydon flood team formed.
Sunday 22 July 3pm: Short, emotionally charged meeting in the village hall of people who had been flooded. Eye-witness accounts of the flooding were recorded using a short questionnaire and a flood map was drawn on a large scale map of Gaydon.
Monday 23 July: The flood action team met to devise an action plan - more eye-witness accounts from Banbury road residents; two main areas of flooding identified and some ideas examined for prevention.
Tuesday 24 July: Four one ton bags of sand for villagers' use placed at strategic places around the village. First survey of ditches produced. Some ditch owners asked to clear them.
Wednesday 25 July: Filling sand bags in preparation for floods on Thursday - three of the bulk bags emptied and all sand bags issued.
Thursday 26 July: Heavy rain at 2pm - no flooding reported - most vulnerable houses had sand-bagged doors. More sand bags collected from Shire Hall.
Friday 27 July: Bulk sand for villagers' use dropped opposite Malt Shovel; more bags available from emergency officer.

Reasons for Flooding

The houses at the bottom of the Banbury Road and the houses near the Church flood because they are in low hollows. The water arriving from higher ground arrives faster than the storm drains can remove it, and forms a deep lake.
The cure is obvious: remove the water from the hollows faster.
The flood team is working on it. John Rickman

Nature Notes

Having just rescued a frog from my letterbox this morning, I am sure that the exceptionally wet weather will not have gone unoticed by most villagers.
Our local farmers will have seen their crops devastated by heavy rains and already hay and wheat prices are set to rise. Potatoes and peas are sure to follow. In Gaydon we have not had the heavy floods of previous years, though a number of broken water mains and flows off fields have flooded some properties*.
Plant growth is luxuriant in the hedgerows. A walk through the woods at Moreton Morrell last week involved cutting through shoulder-high nettles which have grown up in few days. Butterflies always suffer in prolonged wet spells and such species as the Holly Blue are on the wing a month early. We have yet to see our Buddleias attracting many species, as they too have flowered weeks earlier than normal.
The evening has a tropical, overcast feel as I write this. Large Maybugs or Cockchafer beetles are flying around my roof and big families of Swifts are high in the sky.
The most interesting bird I've seen was a Wryneck which is a very scarce, dull brown woodpecker about the size and colour of an immature Starling but with a lot of bars and speckles. It has a peculiar habit of perching on dead wood, which first drew my attention to it. Lapwings like the prevailing marshy conditions and are nesting in local fields once again.
There are large numbers of snails and slugs around too, most are killed out of hand by gardeners angered by the devastation they cause. Two things to remember here: firstly, that the blue Slug pellets
containing Metaldahyde are very harmfull to all wildlife including birds and Pets. The organic type or egg shells, salt, beer traps and gels are much more suitable; secondly, the large Leopard Slugs that are pale yellow and spotted and often found in damp places are not plant-eaters but have a diet of decaying matter - so spare these! They are often killed in error.
The churchyard is another place that needs a dry spell so that the hay can be cut and old varieties of grasses and wildflowers can seed.
Next month I shall be in Irian Jaya (West Papua New Guinea) and hope to send some news of Stone age tribes and birds of Paradise if I can get to a cyber cafe in Jakarta on the way home! Bernard Price
*Bernard submitted this article prior to 20 July!

NB Articles for the Magazine should be submitted by the 20th of the month.

Gaydon Village Fete 2007 - and - 2008

This year's fete was another success and despite the rather wet weather conditions we took over £1,000. After we have paid for our costs we should have made around £500 profit. This means that the Gaydon Millennium Group bank account is very healthy.
The money raised is intended for use towards social events in the village. If you would like to organise anything that is for the enjoyment or entertainment of the village please contact someone from the Millennium Group (Madeleine 640636, Anna 641971).
It is proposed that we should have the fete on the same weekend next year - any suggestions welcome.

Thank You!

A big thank you to everyone who helped at this year's fete.
All the help we receive is invaluable and much appreciated. The more people who get involved the better and the more fun it is.
A special thank you to all those who helped with posters and banners, collecting, organising, setting up stalls and clearing up again, and to everyone who just helped us out on the day - especially Adrian for running the barbecue at rather short notice!
And special thanks to Steph for letting us borrow her canopies and to her and her husband for putting them all up.
Many thanks to all those who turned up despite the rain - let's hope for better weather next year!

Warwickshire Farm Praise and Food Fayre

Make the 22nd September a diary date for your taste buds! Warwickshire's finest farm and food producers gathering under one roof to tempt you with their mouthwatering samples of great food and drink.
You, your family and friends are welcome: there will be farm walks and rural crafts, attractions for children and a cooking demonstration from Ladies in Pigs, all in the heart of the beautiful Kingston estate. The finale is the harvest festival with music and a service of farm praise.
Please join us at Kingston Farm, Harbury from 10.30am onwards, with service at 4.00pm. Entry and car park are free. For further details ring the ARC-Addington Fund on 024 76690587 or www.arc-addingtonfund.org.uk

Pastoral Ministry
To arrange baptisms, marriages, visits at home or in hospital, the Sacrament of Reconciliation or for any other pastoral matter, please contact the Vicar on 01295 770400 or email philip.francis@regents.ox.ac.uk

Farewell, then, John

I have lived in Gaydon since 1982 but because I travelled the world on business, I was not present in the village much until my retirement, when I was able to become more involved in the community.
During all this time I was privileged to meet up with many kind people whom I would like to thank for their help and friendship now that I am leaving the village. I was unable to contact some of these friends to say goodbye as they were out or away.
I am being replaced by Martyn and Claire Hamm who will, I am sure, enjoy the village as much as I have and who will, I know, be a great asset - they are also younger!
So I say Goodbye to one and all. John Wood Roberts

Neighbourhood Watch

Another quiet month for Gaydon.
Distraction Burglaries - Reminder
Despite the many press and police warnings about distraction burglaries, incidents have recently taken place in neighbouring Villages including Kineton and Lighthorne. It is only a matter of time before an attempt is made in Gaydon. Distraction burglars usually work in pairs or threes and drop in to a Village from the motorway.
These attempts can easily be avoided by refusing entry to your property to anyone, no matter what his story is, unless identity can be properly verified. We suggest that you ask for an identification document. Tell him that you will make a call to verify it and then close the door, keeping the person outside while you make your calls.
Do not use the number he gives you. Look it up in the phonebook and ask them to put you through to their Security department. If the person argues or tells you that he or she cannot wait it is probably a lie.
If you are at all suspicious, close your front door, dial 999 and tell the Police what you suspect. The Police will respond immediately.
Better safe than sorry!

Village Hall Hiring Charges

The Village Hall Committee have recently reviewed Village Hall charges. They keep the Hall's hiring rate artificially low for the benefit of villagers. Five pounds an hour does not cover the true cost and is swallowed up by rates and insurance alone; electricity, maintenance, repairs, renovation and cleaning have to be paid for from other sources of income. However, it was decided to maintain the £5 per hour charge for yet another year

Birthday Congratulations

Mrs Allen has lived in St Marks Close since the 1960s and has now reached the great age of 96. Her family and friends would like to wish her 'Many Happy Returns of the Day' - which was on the 19th of July.

Household Items after Floods

Biffa are now collecting flood-damaged items on behalf of Stratford District Council free of charge.
When your insurance company has given you permission to have your damaged goods removed, telephone the Flood Line on 01789 260830 or 01789 260831 to notify Biffa. If you have any queries, telephone District Councillor Sue Wixey on 01926 641230.

Insurance Advice

Following the recent floods, have you been approached by someone offering to help you fill in your insurance claim?
You should be very careful before accepting any such help and are advised to contact your Citizen's Advice Bureau or Financial Services Authority or the Association of British insurers instead.
The above advice is offered by Communities and Local Government at www.communities.gov.uk

Flood Team Social

Let's have a get-together on Monday 13 August at 7pm in the Village Hall! A cordial invitation is extended to everyone in the village who has been flooded or has attended any of the flood meetings. Bring along your favourite flood photo and win a prize if it is voted the best. Instead of poring over those old maps and drains, please bring a bottle and relax for an hour or two! Unhealthy snacks provided. JR

Thanks

Another successful Village Fête was held at the end of June, largely thanks to the super-human efforts of Madeleine Hill and her band of helpers. It was a very wet day which became soggier and muddier as the afternoon proceeded but the spirit of Dunkirk saw us through and a good time was had by all. There were wonderful bargains on the stalls and delicious hamburgers and ices to keep us going. The dog show and the historical re-enactment were very entertaining and even more fun was had at the end of the day when the ice cream van had to be towed out of the bog. In all, a day to remember: thank you!

Welcome

We welcome Claire and Martyn Hamm who have come to live in Church Lane; we hope they will be very happy in Gaydon.